Breakdown of Kissa nukkuu tyynyn päällä lampun vieressä.
kissa
cat
nukkua
to sleep
vieressä
next to
päällä
on top of
Questions & Answers about Kissa nukkuu tyynyn päällä lampun vieressä.
Why do tyyny and lamppu end in -n here?
They are in the genitive case (tyynyn, lampun) because of the postpositions päällä (on top of) and vieressä (next to). In Finnish, most postpositions require the word right before them to be in the genitive case. You can think of it like saying "on top of the pillow" and "by the side of the lamp".
English uses prepositions like "on" and "next to" before the noun. Can I say päällä tyynyn?
No, the word order is strict here. Finnish uses postpositions, which means they must come directly after the noun they are linked to. The noun in the genitive case always comes first, so it must be tyynyn päällä and lampun vieressä.
Where do the postpositions päällä and vieressä come from?
Postpositions in Finnish are often just regular nouns with a location ending! Päällä comes from pää (head) with the ending -llä (on), so it literally means "on the head of". Vieressä comes from vieri (side) with the ending -ssä (in), literally meaning "in the side of".
Why did the double p in lamppu change to a single p in lampun?